The Citizen, 2010-12-23, Page 16PAGE 16. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2010.
Howson &
Howson Ltd.
Blyth
Elevators 519-523-9624 Flour Mill 519-523-4241
May your faith be renewed and your spirits
lifted as we celebrate the birth of our Saviour.
With best wishes to you and yours for a truly
memorable holiday season.
email:Paul@omni-ins.com
R.R. #3 Blyth 519-523-9110
Fax: 519-523-9278
Clinton Office: 519-482-3434
Goderich Office: 519-524-9899
Lucknow Office: 519-528-3824
Farm/Commercial/Residential/Auto
Accident/Sickness/Life Insurance
HOLIDAY GREETINGS
Please accept our best wishes for a very Merry
Christmas and a healthy and prosperous New Year.
We feel truly honoured to serve this community
and appreciate your trust in us.
Paul Hallahan
82589 London Rd., south of Blyth
519-523-9726
email: countryside@tcc.on.ca
Glory to the
Newborn
King!
All the best to you and your
family, as together we
celebrate the
Miracle of His birth.
There is no doubt that the holidaysare a special time for many of us.Everyone has their own traditions
when Christmas rolls around.
There is always a smell or a taste or
a face that means Christmas to
them.
In past years we’ve sat down with
our schools’ principals, well-known
members of the community and past
Citizens of the Year to discuss their
Christmas traditions. In 2008, we at
The Citizen even turned the spotlight
back on ourselves, to discuss what
put us into the holiday spirit and
what made Christmas ours year
after year.When writing about my Christmastradition, I spoke of my
grandparents and how they were,
with parents who both worked
erratic shifts from year to year, the
one constant in the Loughlin house
when the Christmas tree was up.
While my police officer dad might
have been working a shift that
conflicted with Christmas dinner, or
my mom may have had to work late,
they were always there.
I said I looked forward to many
more Christmases with my Opa,
after my Oma had passed away
while I was in Grade 8. Earlier this year we lost my Opaand Christmas traditions have had to
change.
Change is what The Citizen chose
to focus on this holiday season in
talking to several members of the
community who left one culture for
another.
While many Canadians tend to
focus on city centres such as
Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver as
multi-cultural hotbeds, an area such
as Huron County certainly has its
fair share of diversity.
And for an area that has celebrated
the differences of its residents fordecades, it’s only right to focus onthe cultural differences we
all have when it comes to the
holidays.
This year we speak to a man who
grew up in war-torn Ireland. His
Christmas tradition was to attend
midnight mass until it became no
longer safe to do so; a reverend who
celebrated the holidays with equal
parts church and day-long soccer
matches in Sierra Leone; a couple
who remembered Christmas as just
another day in Holland during theSecond World War; a couple whoseholidays are filled with traditional
Korean meals and dances and a man
whose English Santa Claus didn’t
use wrapping paper.
Every one of these people has
taken the traditions of their home
countries and fused them with their
new home of Canada in order to
celebrate a Christmas that is entirely
their own and they wouldn’t want it
any other way.
-S.L.
John, Rick, Randy, Jeff
& Staff
ELLIOTT NIXON
INSURANCE BROKERS INC.
a member of HIMG
Local citizens share international Christmas experiences
Blyth family says South Korean
traditions similar to Canadian
Mike and Angela Oh, owners of
Blyth Variety are somewhat recent
arrivals to Blyth, but have been in
Canada since 1997, and have found
that Christmas is a uniting
experience, with many of the same
practices that happen in Canada
happening in their home country of
South Korea.
Recently, Michael explained what
Christmas was like during his time
in South Korea.
Oh stated that, to celebrate the
birth of Jesus, people in Korea do
many of the same things they do in
Canada, including going to church,
large displays in bigger cities and
singing Christmas carols.
“There’s a big Christmas tree in
Seoul (the capital city of South
Korea), and carolers sing in the
streets near it,” he said.
Most South Koreans, according to
Oh, want snow for Christmas,
because it makes the season more
beautiful and dramatic for “younger
couples”.
The biggest difference, according
to Oh, isn’t in the holiday itself, but
in who celebrates it as well as other
special days during the season.
“Christianity is not the traditional
Korean religion,” Oh explained. “It
was spread through Korea in the
1800s, and only about 30 to 35 per
cent of Koreans are Christians.”
Once moving to Canada, the Ohs
were part of the majority, being part
of the 77 per cent who consider
themselves Christian (according to
StatsCan in 2001).
Another difference is the holidays
following Christmas.
“There is no Boxing Day in South
Korea,” he said. “In Canada they
have the sales on Boxing Day, and it
was very strange to see everyone
lined up at the stores the first time.
We have big sales and discounts
throughout the Christmas season in
South Korea though.”
Boxing Day is celebrated in many
predominantly Christian countries
throughout the world. Other nations
Oh, what a Christmas
Mike and Angela Oh, who own and operate Blyth Variety,
recently explained the differences between Christmas in
South Korea and Christmas in Canada. (Denny Scott photo)
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
Continued on page 21